October 17, 2018

Marsh Dweller - Wanderer

By Justin C. Marsh Dweller's last album, The Weight of Sunlight, offered a unique take in the broad musical area of melodic/atmospheric black metal. A mix of influences and some serious guitar riff worship made for a pleasant departure

By Justin C.

Marsh Dweller's last album, The Weight of Sunlight, offered a unique take in the broad musical area of melodic/atmospheric black metal. A mix of influences and some serious guitar riff worship made for a pleasant departure from a lot of what was going on at the time (and continues to go on).

The title of the second album, Wanderer, might lead you to believe there will be more atmospheric black metal to come. Maybe some tastefully applied "crunching leaves in the woods" sound samples? But Marsh Dweller's sole member, John Owen Kerr, had something different in mind. Wanderer sees Marsh Dweller move into full post-metal territory, complete with all the crushing, layered riffing interspersed with sparse interludes that particular subgenre implies. In fact, Kerr himself said that Cult of Luna's Vertikal was a big inspiration for Wanderer.

So how does that translate? Pretty damn well, actually. A lot of the melodic sensibilities and sonic choices from Sunlight show up here, so this doesn't sound like the work of a completely different band, although if you had your heart set on an expansion of that sound, you may walk away disappointed. "Wander I" erupts with the sound of siren-like guitar line before moving into a hefty, chunky riff, a riff that gets built upon, churning and evolving as the song progresses, while still making room for some wide-open, clean-ish guitar work in the middle of the song. Kerr lets his vocals range from a lower, almost Ihsahn-ian croak up through harsh highs and, later on in the album, some chant-like cleans.

"Wander I" is a proper post-metal length, coming in at just over 9 minutes, but that's just a warm up for the purely massive "Wander II," which comes in at well over 17 minutes. It's a bold choice for the second track of the album, risking breaking the listener too early on. Reasonable people could argue as to whether this is really one song or more of a connected suite, but to my ears, it works as a single piece. Trippier guitar work opens the track with a bit of swirling effect, before moving on to a progress of riffs that build and release, layer upon layer, topped with a mix of growling styles. I'd be lying if I said I thought this song was as tight as it could be--there's a tremolo/white noise/sampled sounds section about two thirds of the way in that I might have cut down if my editing advice was sought, but if it overstays its welcome a little bit, it's not so much that it derails the song.

Recounting all of the details of all the songs would make this album sound fractured, which it definitely is not, but there are more surprises to come. "Coalesce," true to its title, acts as if it's almost falling apart in the middle, with guitar and drums seemingly at odds, before coming back to a unity at the end. "Wander III," another behemoth of a track, plays with tempos that are almost in the realm of funeral doom and includes dueling female vocals with dueling growls, all building to a furious ending.

As I've hinted at, this album runs the risk of pushing away some fans of Marsh Dweller's last album. When I first realized the direction Kerr was taking this particular album, I have to confess that I moaned inside a little--I need my post-rock/post-metal to be in the top 99% of its class to hold my interest--but after giving this a chance, I was able to put aside preconceived notions of what this would be and go along for the ride. Stay open minded and give this a fair shot--you may find a lot to like.